‘Besides,’ Yori continued, putting on a smile, ‘the real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands but in seeing with new eyes. I think Akiko just needs to look at things in a different way.’

Sighing, Jack nodded his understanding. After the welcome they’d received, he couldn’t blame his friends for wanting to return home. There were many times in Japan when, feeling homesick, he’d snapped at his friends and taken his frustration out on them. No wonder Akiko had been irritable with him; it was more surprising that it had taken so long for those feelings to surface. The fact that both his friends insisted on helping him search for his sister, rather than returning home to Japan, proved their loyalty to him. Their unwavering devotion made Jack feel simultaneously fortunate and guilty … yet hopeful too. With such friends at his side, he couldn’t fail in his quest.

As the mist dispersed with the warmth of the coming day, they arrived at a wooded valley. Here the road split, one route going high, the other low.

‘Harold said the low road is flooded,’ reminded Akiko.

‘Did he, now?’ said Rose, tugging her reins to the left and heading along the low road.

‘But –’

‘How naive can you be, Akiko?’ she remarked over her shoulder. ‘Harold, or whatever his real name is, was most likely lying. He’ll have set up an ambush with his friends on the high road.’

‘Not everyone thinks like you!’ said Akiko, bristling.

‘Well, it’s a good thing I do, then, otherwise you wouldn’t even have got this far. I don’t know what qualifies you to be a samurai, but it ain’t common sense, that’s for sure!’ she said, laughing.

‘We learn bushido!’ snapped Akiko. ‘The Way of the Warrior. Perhaps you’d benefit from learning its seven virtues – in particular, the virtue of respect.’

Rose brought her horse to a sharp halt and glared at Akiko. ‘You don’t know me, so you’ve no right to judge me!’

The two girls held each other’s fierce stares. Yori’s eyes grew wide with alarm at the escalating argument. Seeing Akiko’s muscles tense like a cat primed to pounce, Jack quickly rode between the warring parties.

‘We’re on the same side!’ he reminded them. ‘I heard Harold’s advice too, Akiko, but there’s a chance Rose is right.’ He tried to placate Akiko with a conciliatory smile. ‘Let us do the opposite of what Harold said, just in case. If the road is flooded, we can always turn back.’

‘Fine,’ relented Akiko, giving him an inscrutable look, before spurring on her horse.

They rode on in silence, Akiko remaining aloof as they followed the course of the river. Jack realized he’d upset Akiko by defending Rose again, but there was little he could do about that now. It was better to be safe than sorry in this case.